IMPORTANT STUFF: Digimon does not belong to me, and the Final Fantasy series is Squaresoft's.
DIGITAL FANTASY: LEGEND OF THE TWELVE DIGI-CRESTS
written by K-chan
Characters of Fate: LANCER
"Family Secrets"
He hurried through the gates of a manor, right pass the soldiers on either side. The guarding pair didn't have time to give a proper acknowledgement but eventually laughed it off at the energetic youth. The stone-paved path to the front doorstep of the manor was quite a trek if a person was walking.The blonde running up the pathway would not have been anyone special if it wasn't for the spear strapped to his back. Anyone with a spear was ordinary, but this young man possessed a unique spear that only the men in his family could inherit. It was said that the weapon was a gift from the past king to his ancestors.
Today, he was lucky his father wasn't home, so he sweetly borrowed it from his father's private chambers for practice and a little spar his rival had challenged. Although he was a squire at the moment, he would one day follow his father's footstep and live up to the family name of skilled lancers. His father was the best role model anyone could have, being one of the heroes of the Gennai Wars.
He flung the front doors aside and ran through the hallways, not bothering with the opened doors, until he ran into the maid. He quickly got to his feet and apologized for his rude manners. She laughed, ruffling up his blonde hair. He wrinkled his nose in false annoyance and then laughed. "Oh where's mom?"
"Young master almost forgot about lunch again," she said in a playful, scolding tone.
Embarrassed, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Heh, really?"
She nodded. "M'lady is in her room."
"Thanks!" he said before dashing down the hall again. The maid just shook her head and continued with her activity.
He retraced his steps to front of the house and climbed the stairs to the second floor. He went down two different hallways before reaching his parents' chambers. Usually he would knock before he entered, but his only thoughts were of telling his mother what happened to him that morning, so he busted through the doors, calling out to his mother.
Time seemed to have stopped when he stood in the doorway, letting his smile drop into a frown. He stared at the scene of his mother and a man who wasn't his father standing so close to each other. The woman in her mid-thirties stared at her son with wide eyes, clutching some pieces of papers in her hands. The stranger just stared at the boy with an expressionless face and then turned back to his mother. He said something to her that wasn't audible to the young blonde.
He clutched the handle of the spear and drew it forward, cautiously proceeding towards the two. He was about to demand the stranger's reason for trespassing in the worse possible places, but the man looked over at the boy again, and their eyes met. He smirked and walked over to the window, eventually escaping through it.
Gripping the spear tightly, he ran to the window to find no trace of the intruder. His eyes quickly swung to his mother, who was now leaning over the desk as if it was the only thing holding her up now. "Mom, who was that man?" he asked, trying to remain calm. That person didn't seem like someone his family would associate with, not to mention he was a man standing in his parents' bedroom alone with his mother. "What was he doing here?!" His voice rose a bit at the end, appearing somewhat demanding.
"Please, Takeru," she said quietly. Tears fell onto the surface of the desk as the young man dropped the family heirloom to the floor and embraced his mother gently.
"I'm sorry, mom," he pleaded. "I didn't mean to yell, but please tell me what happened. Did he hurt you?" She pulled back from him, shaking her head. He was very relieved to know that. If that man did hurt her, he would track that villain down and punish him accordingly. "Mom," he called, holding her by the shoulders, "please tell me. You know I won't be able to stand it."
She nodded, and he helped her over to the bedside. "Please close the doors, Takeru." He obliged and soon joined her, sitting in a chair across from her. She took a deep breath and let it out before starting. Looking directly into his deep-blue eyes, she asked calmly, "Do you remember of hearing about the incident that happened to me before three years before you were born?"
He nodded, wondering what her kidnapping had to do with it. Was that man the kidnapper? Or somehow related to the incident? "You have a right to know, Takeru, of what happened to me during that year as a hostage." He suddenly felt tense as if he had been turned into stone, staring at his mother. He had heard many versions of the story, but this would be the first time to actually hear it from his mother. He had always avoided asking her since he thought it would bring sad memories for her.
"Years before the Gennai Wars," she began, "I married your father through arrangements to build a strong alliance between the two households. I was a traditional, young woman and didn't mind my future being set out for me. But a few months after the ceremony and being away from my family, I became homesick. Your father was away, so I decided to take a trip home to visit."
Takeru was practically at the edge of his seat, unknowingly gripping the cloth of his pants tightly, baring his white knuckles. He listened intently, letting every single word seep into his ears.
"I only had a maid and the driver with me when we journeyed. At the time, I had thought it was a mistake to be so careless." His eyebrows wrinkled into puzzlement, wondering what she meant by her last statement. He noticed his mother was now staring out the window with these distant-looking eyes as if she was reminiscing on happy times. He didn't recall a time when he saw her that way, not even when she talked about his father.
"Yes, Takeru," she said, having noted his every reaction throughout her story, "You have an older brother." It was a good thing he was sitting down or else his legs would've faltered from the weight of this knowledge. His whole body was still in a state of shock as he continued to stare ahead, looking at nothing in particular.
"Even if you don't accept him, he is still your half-brother." She stood up and walked over to the desk. She picked up the papers she held before and showed it to him. "That man was one of the thieves working under your brother. He came to inform me of his father's death, and these are his last words to me."
Her son slowly reached his hands out and grasped the papers as if it was something very delicate. He wasn't reading the words yet, but his eyes were still glazed over from the deep secret his mother just shared with him. "There is a letter from your brother as well," she whispered. She sounded so heartbroken that he had to look up at her. He didn't understand why the sadness overwhelmed more than before.
Through her story, she was mourning the death of a man--the thief who literally stole her heart--that she had learn to love in a short period of time, and yet at the mention of a letter from her oldest son, she had the urge to break down into tears again. Takeru immediately searched through the papers for a different handwriting and finally came upon the last sheet with a recent date. It was the letter from his brother.
Takeru carefully read each word and understood why it pained his mother so when she talked about his brother. The words were short and to the point that there was no relationship between the mother and son since his father was no longer in this world. How could he just sever the relationship just like that? Did he not know that she was STILL his mother, the woman who gave birth to him?!
But seeing his side to it, the last time he was held by his mother was only a few months after he was born. Their mother had no choice but to return to her legal husband because of the duty and honor she was bound too. She would have taken her first son with her, but her lover wanted the baby to stay to remind him of her--to remind him of the love they shared. He could feel the hatred seething through the letter, and it tore him apart that anyone could hold so much negativity like this--towards his mother at that.
His brother grew up without a mother and in an environment that probably didn't show much love. He shook his head, not being able to imagine a life without love, and stood up. "Mom," he said quietly. She turned to him. "Do you love father?"
Somewhat stunned at the question, she wiped the remaining tears from her face. "Of course I do!"
Takeru nodded, smiling. He was glad that his mother still loved his father and didn't mind it all that she also loved another man, but now that man was dead, so the past was the past. What bothered him now was the young man conceived from that love. He gave the letters back to her and went to the spot his spear was dropped and laid. His mother watched his every step, seeing that her youngest son had something planned.
After he picked up the weapon, he looked at her. "I want to see him, mom," he said calmly, "I want to meet my brother."
